News Scan

Execution in Mississippi Yesterday: Jesse Bass of Hattiesburg American reports Larry Matthew Puckett, 35, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday at the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Puckett was convicted of the 1995 murder and sexual battery of Rhonda Hatten Griffis, his former boss' wife and mother of two. She was found by her husband in a large pool of blood in their living room, bleeding with several gashes on her head, back, chest, and neck. She had several defensive wounds on her hands, arms, and elbows. "Today we witnessed the result of a choice made by Matt Puckett," said
Nancy Hatten, the victim's mother, following the execution. "If he had chosen to live as a
law-abiding citizen rather than choosing to murder our daughter - our
only child - who was a wife and mother, we would not be here today."

ACLU Releases Report on Realignment: Tracey Kaplan of San Jose Mercury News reports the ACLU of Northern California released a new report Tuesday reviewing the implementation of realignment. The report was especially critical of the amount of inmates kept in jail while awaiting trial, increased spending on jails, and the lack of state involvement in helping counties successfully implement realignment. Many sheriff's criticized the report, saying the ACLU doesn't have a realistic grasp on the situation. "I'm already letting out the best of the worst,'' said Sheriff Adam Christianson of Stanislaus County.

Supreme Court Ruling Prompts Petition in Texas: Brandi Grissom of The Texas Tribune reports Brad Levenson, director of the Texas Office of Capital Writs, filed a petition with
the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Tuesday afternoon on behalf of condemned inmate Jesse Joe
Hernandez, arguing that his March 28 execution should be stayed, in
part, because of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling Tuesday in the Martinez v. Ryan case. Hernandez killed a 10-month-old boy in Dallas in 2001. Levenson argues Hernandez's trial lawyers and initial appeals lawyers were ineffective for failing to investigate further why the child died. Levenson said although the ruling applies to federal court, the same principle ought to apply for state courts. "We're saying the state
courts should also take a look at these claims for the same reason the
Supreme Court would take a look at them," he said.

Arizona Supreme Court Approves Two Executions: The Associated Press reports the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the upcoming executions of Thomas Arnold Kemp, 63, and Samuel Villegas Lopez, 49. Kemp is scheduled to be executed on April 26, and Lopez is scheduled to be executed May 16. Kemp was sentenced to death for the 1992 kidnapping and murder of a
25-year-old man. Kemp and his accomplice held the victim at gunpoint and
used his debit card to withdraw $200 before taking him into a desert
area, where they forced him to undress and shot him twice in the head.
The two men then kidnapped a married couple and made them drive to
Colorado, where Kemp raped the man. The couple later escaped. During his
sentencing trial, Kemp said his victim was "beneath my contempt." "I
spit on the law and all those who serve it," he said. Lopez was sentenced to death for robbing, raping, and stabbing to death a 59-year-old woman in her apartment in 1986. She was found half-naked with three major stab wounds to her head, one on her face, and 23 in her left breast and upper chest. She had been blindfolded and gagged with her own clothing, and her throat was slit. Semen on her body was matched to Lopez's after he was arrested for a different rape less than a week later.

Occupy Protesters' Tweets Used Against Them: Tamer El-Ghobashy of the Wall Street Journal reports Manhattan prosecutors are using social media such as Twitter, one of the Occupy movement's principal organizing tools, to prosecute hundreds of Occupy protesters on lower-level charges like disorderly conduct. Twitter's published policy says it doesn't release users' private
information "except as lawfully required by appropriate legal process
such as subpoena, court order, or other valid legal process." While the subpoenas may be legal, protesters say they are an attack on free speech. "The lesson is, if you're speaking publicly and leaving a record as to
who you are, that's information the government can legally access," said
Orin Kerr, a professor of law at George Washington University.